Abstract

International retirement migration (IRM) is a growing and significant feature of the European Union. It has important economic implications in terms of the redistribution of social costs, factors reward and incomes. Using overlapping generations models and simulation techniques this thesis focuses on the economic effects of International Retirement Migration (IRM) within the European Union (EU). Three main parts make up this thesis.
The first part summaries the legal and the social framework within the European Union where IRM takes place. Access to European welfare system is based on the principle of non-discrimination. However, the European Comunity law regulates the possibility of free riding through the resource requirement.
In the second part, after a brief literature review in social security, the thesis develops a quantitative model that tries to explain some reasons why IRM may take place. Starting with a difference between "environment" of European countries, some people may opt for a better life in another country when they retire. We also focus on the capital accumulation effect for home and host countries.
The presence of large populations of retired foreign residents in European countries raises fundamental questions with respect to the right of access to health and welfare services. In the third part, bearing in mind the principle of free movement of capital and the non-discrimination principle in accessing public service within the EU, we focus on the economic effects of IRM for the host country, for the individual migrants themselves, for the host communities and for public policy.